Curve3... It's here!

Curve3 shipped April 30th!

Already the standard for G7 calibration, Curve3 will be the best, most modern and technically functional G7 tool yet! Curve3 will raise the bar significantly. Most users will see improvements and benefits immediately. This will be the version to have if you have been sitting on the fence.

CHROMiX and HutchColor have poured hundreds of hours into developing features for Curve3 based on what end users actually want. We also improved many existing functionalities.

Take a look at some of these new features:- 4D data smoothing cleans up challenged systems- Special Ink calibration for additional inks (CMYK+)- Spectral VPR now applies curves to full-spectral data- Enhanced Black-point options for ink-jet and digital- Normalizing Curves to improve shadow smoothness- Custom TVI calibration (mostly for European users)- Intelligent error-reporting and resolution- User-specified starting-point calibration- User-defined Control Point lists- Expanded graphs and reports

Curve3 also has a new 'Demo' mode which allows users to test the interface as well as the main calibration and verification functionalities of Curve3 (including Verify mode) without a serial number. Sample files are included and must be used for Demo mode.

Curve3 WEBINAR:Finally, to help introduce users to Curve3 and some of its new features, CHROMiX and HutchColor will host a public webinar FRIDAY May 17th at 2:00 PM Eastern/11:00 AM Pacific.

See and hear about everything new for Curve3 firsthand from Don Hutcheson and Steve Upton.

To receive an invite, just send an email to sales@chromix.com with "C3 WEBINAR on 5/17" in the Subject field. We look forward to having you join us!

Maxwell News

Maxwell now has over 85 million measurements to date!

It's now official from this point forward: The software client will be called Maxwell Client (Mac and Win). It will no longer be called ColorShuttle. We're readying the new Client and will let you know when it's available.

The new Maxwell Client brings:

- faster setup for Tracks - no hot folders required- i1iO support- integrated Help from ColorWiki- integration discussions from ColorForums- other great features

Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look today? Maxwell is the most innovative cloud-based Verification, QA/QC system in the printing industry today.

Maxwell can remotely supervise the performance of almost any device from your web browser. You can track, trend, verify and analyze workflow devices ranging from spectrophotometers, LCD monitors, printers, proofers and presses. Plus, Maxwell will help you determine the performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances for every device. Maxwell includes strong Pass/Fail features and custom label printing. Maxwell also has a strong 'layered' notification system and can alert any person(s) or group(s) involved in the chain of information.

CHROMiX reviews Konica Minolta FD-7

Pat Herold recently did a bench review and testing of Konica Minolta's FD-7 spectrophotometer. Overall, its a very nice device with some great capabilities. Read it in the ColorWiki.

ColorEyes Display New versions

Integrated Color Corp, makers of ColorEyes Display Pro calibration software, has updated its ColorEyes Display pro v1.6 versions for Mac and Windows. CDP now supports all current Mac and Win OS's for 32/64 bit.Instruments now supported: i1Display Pro (Retail not OEM version), Eizo swing sensor, ColorMunki original Mac only (not ColorMunkiDisplay), Spyder4, Spyder3, DTP-94 (excluding Windows 8), i1Pro/Photo/Monitor. Support for the Spyder2 and the Eye One display 2 have been discontinued.V1.6 also has improved DDC support for the NEC PA and P series, Eizo SX, EV series monitors, Cintiq tablets and some Dell displays.

ColorEyes Display Pro Server

Integrated Color is now offering Coloreyes Display Pro in a server version for customers with 25+ monitors to calibrate that are all connected on the same network. Ease of activation and replacement of machines is a substantial benefit for large scale users. Contact Sales(at)CHROMiX.com for information or pricing.

EIZO adds DISCUS, changes name

EIZO added basICColor DISCUS support to Color Navigator v6.4.2, their proprietary calibration software for ColorEdge-level monitors.On another note: EIZO Nanao has formally changed their name to simply the 'EIZO Corporation'. Also, EIZO USA is now EIZO Inc.

NEC firmware update for PA & P series

This Firmware update adds support for MAC OS10.7. Added support of the MultiSync P241W/P241W-BK. Improved 6-Axis hue control function. And more. Thanks Will!

X-Rite i1Profiler updated version

X-Rite released version 1.4.2 of i1Profiler (i1Publish) profiling software. One notable feature is the newly added scanner profiling capability, which supports iT8 targets, but interestingly not HutchColor HCT targets... yet.Also, the new upcoming i1Profiler version 1.5 (due this Summer) is supposed to include Device Linking capabilities.

X-Rite discontinues many devices

X-Rite has begun discontinuing many older measurement devices in an effort to streamline their products. The new EXact is replacing some of these and some legacy devices will have trade-in value for upgrades. Already discontinued as of March 30, 2013: 518, 528, DensiEye 700 (most models), SpectroEye LT. Discontinued June 30, 20103 will be: 530, 530+IntelliTrax bundles, 939, 939M, SpectroEye, SpectroEye+IntelliTrax bundles. X-Rite will provide service for 7 years of discontinuation date. Although not complete, here is the link to X-Rites discontinued list of products.

As digital cameras started to develop larger CCD chips, somebody pointed out that cameras were capable of the higher resolutions like flatbed scanners, and scanning was on its way out. There certainly didn't seem to be much of a future in scanning. Scanner profiling targets have been getting harder to find. Two years ago when X-Rite released i1Profiler, their long awaited replacement to their professional profiling engines, it did not even include a module for making scanner profiles. Heck - even CHROMiX doesn't bother to advertise our scanner profiling service on our website.

But, to borrow the colloquialism: the "reports of the death of scanning were greatly exaggerated." Like a lot of predictions about the future, this one has not materialized as anticipated. While high-end digital cameras can capture something like 20 megapixels these days, the ubiquitous cameras that most people use are not up to the quality that we color geeks are expecting.

There is also a great bevy of enthusiasts who continue to shoot medium and large format film. Even in this digital age, large format film can contain the equivalent of hundreds of megapixels. So it is still popular to shoot large format film and scan the film digitally. An 8x10" slide can be scanned and the detail available is astounding. Depending on the use of the final output, these images are oftentimes down-sampled before being printed. Devotes of this workflow enjoy smooth images that are sharp and clear:http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

Then again, nowadays it's dead easy to pick up an inexpensive flatbed scanner that just plugs in to a USB port and does what you need without a lot of fuss.

And what do you know? X-Rite's latest update to i1Profiler introduces a new scanner profiling feature.

Long ago, we published an article on Input Profiles and Working Spaces: http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/ColorNews_No._8_-_Input_Profiles_and_Working_Spaces, which briefly touched on scanners. But it's high time we come around again and take another look at scanning from a color perspective. I see this article as a useful companion if you are going to try the i1P scanning module for the first time (to complement the sometimes modest help menus there.) Or for anyone who has a scanner and would like to try getting good, dependable color out of it.

Which target to useThere are many scanning targets available for sale, including these: http://www2.chromix.com/ColorGear/Shop/ProductList.cxsa?refcode=cmptarget It's always best to choose a target that is made from the same film type as you'll be scanning most of the time. Different films will have different characteristics, so using the same material will get you more accurate results. For example, if you mainly use Kodak Ektachrome in your large format camera, then try to find a profiling target printed on Kodak Ektachrome.

Reflective and TransmissiveReflective targets are for those who want to scan a physical print or perhaps an original artwork; something that requires you to scan the face of the media. Reflective scanning targets are usually a 5 x 7 inch layout onto high quality silver halide photographic paper.

If you are scanning transparencies, otherwise known as slide film, or positives, where it is viewed by having light shone through it, or backlit - then you would require a transparency target. For large format you can order a 4x5 inch trans target, or in many cases a 35mm slide version of the target will work. While it is possible to scan negatives, people generally don't pursue profiling for this, because it is inherently very difficult to get consistent color results from the various colors of that dark orange base material from which negatives are made.

Patch arrangementThe most common targets are some flavor of the IT8 patch set. An example is here: http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/IT8 This target contains up to 286 colors that do a pretty good job of sampling the entire color range, including neutrals.

For those who want something better, Hutchcolor provides the HCT targets which contain 528 patches including more saturated colors, more grays and more shadow patches.

All these targets are designed to have very stable color for a long time. Naturally the accuracy depends on the reference data matching the color of the targets. When you first buy a scanning target, it was hopefully not long after the target was measured to create the corresponding reference. Naturally as time goes on the dyes in the target will change - usually not much, but you know - nothing lasts forever. It's a good idea to keep these targets in a cool, dry place (like a refrigerator) and not keep them out in the light any longer than necessary. It is possible for some targets (5x7's and 4x5's) to be remeasured in the future to ensure an accurate and up-to-date reference file.

Note also, that some manufacturers will "batch" measure their targets. They will provide you with a reference file that is a good average for all the targets in a certain batch. In this case you're not getting a reference that goes specifically with your particular target, but one that is "close". The Kodak IT8's (recently discontinued) are among this group.

The more premium targets (such as the custom-measured reflective targets by CHROMIX, and most of the HCT targets) are custom measured, so there is a reference file directly associated with your target.

Software CompatibilityYou must also choose a target that will work with your profiling software. Some scanners come with their own profiling targets & software. If you happen to have a scanning target lying around, check to see if it is compatible with your scanning software. Interestingly, while the HCT targets are of the highest quality, they are currently not supported in the most recent version of X-Rite's i1Profiler. I understand that there are discussions between X-Rite and Hutchcolor concerning this, so maybe we'll see the software support these targets in the near future.

Custom-made reflective targetsIf you are scanning reflective material (rather than transparency material), and if you have software that allows for customized targets, you can create your own reflective target just by printing a series of patches on high quality paper. I know we used to do this using the ProfileMaker software by X-Rite.

Here's what you need:- high quality printer- a target containing patches that can be read by a spectrophotometer, and will fit on the scanner.- spectrophotometer that can read the patches,- software that allows for the use of customized targets

This printed target is scanned by the scanner, and is also read by the spectrophotometer. This measurement will become the reference for the scanner target. The scanned image along with the custom-measured reference is used to make the scanner profile.

Note that this method has the benefit of being custom-measured, so the reference data should be very accurate. On the other hand, this kind of profile will be somewhat limited by the gamut of the printer you've printed the target on. This is not generally a problem, but it is something to be aware of.

Scanning the target on your scannerOnce you have a target, it's time to create the actual scan. The scanner settings must be set so that any automatic image adjustment is off, any color management (any use of profiles) in the scanner is off, sharpening is off, and the scanner must be clean, warmed up and in good working order.

Since the scanner profile will handle all the color correcting, you want to bypass all of the extra color correction bells and whistles that the scanner is capable of. Adjust the gamma, white point and black point settings in the scanning software so that it will scan the target in a well-rounded way. Specifically, you would want the middle 50% gray patch of the target to be scanned at as close to 127 127 127 gray as is reasonable (as sampled in Photoshop in RGB mode). Also, the white patch of the target should read about 240-250 or so leaving room above the maximum. Similarly, the black point should scan at about 5-15... not all the way to zero. You might very well someday be scanning something lighter or darker than the extremes of your scanning target, so you want to "leave room" so that your scanner can define those colors too. The scanned image does not have to be particularly large. We're just interested in color here, and a great big megapixel file is not going to tell us anything more about the color, or make the colors more accurate.

Check the scanIf your scanned target image has any blotches due to dirt or dust spots, you can clean them up with a clone tool in Photoshop. Naturally, be very careful with this and do not copy color from a neighboring patch!

Create the profileOnce the image has been scanned, bring it along with your reference file into your profiling software to make a profile. The software allows you to precisely crop and line up the scanned target so that it can identify the patches.

The actual creation of the profile is very simple, and only takes a few seconds. In fact, this kind of service can be done remotely. Once you have a scanned target, that image file can be sent to anyone who has the software, and the completed profile can be simply emailed back. There's no need to ship a hardcopy print or anything. For example, it just takes a few minutes for us to create a scanner profile for customers anywhere in the world.

Scanner profiles have a different shape than printer profiles or monitor profiles. They are usually a lot larger when you view them in a 3D Grapher like ColorThink. In fact, a scanner profile will generally to be larger and more encompassing than the colors of the actual target that was used to make it. How can this be? When the profile is created, the profiling software will extrapolate beyond the target image colors and make a profile that sort of "guesses" how to handle those extra-saturated colors. This makes sense when you realize that you will potentially be scanning all different colors from different materials, and will want the profile to be able to handle colors that are beyond those few represented in the target image.

Note that all settings in the scanner must remain the way they were when the target image was created. If anything is changed that can affect color, the profile will become obsolete and will likely give you wrong colors.

Using the profileOnce you have the scanner profile, install it in your system where your imaging programs can access it.

To use the scanner profile, you would leave your scanner exactly as it was when you scanned the target. Scan your images on the scanner, bring your scanned files into Photoshop and assign this new scanner profile to these images. Assigning the profile will "correct" the color of the image back to what it should look like. When you go to save this image, the profile will be embedded into it as you save. If you are going to print this image, the profile will be converted to the profile of the printer automatically, the corrected image will print with the proper colors, and everything will look great!

There is much more information that can be learned about this whole topic, that we just don't have the space for here. The Hutchcolor.com website has extensive instructions for setting up scanners and how to make the most of a scanner profile.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick HeroldCHROMiX

(Thanks to Makoto Takada for inspiration for this topic, and to Ken Lee for his help.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2013 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. CHROMiX ColorNews is intended as an informative update to CHROMiX customers and business associates. We are not responsible for errors or omissions. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.